At 89, jazz legend Dave Brubeck keeps his chops fit

Scott Gargan, correspondent

Published 5:56 pm, Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Jazz musician Dave Brubeck plays a keyboard at his induction with 12 other honorees into the 2008 California Hall of Fame at The California Museum on December 15, 2008 in Sacramento, California. Brubeck performs Thursday at the Palace Theatre in Stamford.
Photo: File Photo

Just take a look at his exercise room, where you'll find an electric keyboard mounted on his treadmill.

"I'm so busy, I'm just trying to keep up with the mail," Brubeck joked during an interview from his Wilton home last week. "The only way I (have the time to) practice and exercise is to have an electric piano at shoulder level. Otherwise, I wouldn't get any exercise."

Indeed, the act of multi-tasking is a necessity for the jazz legend who, at the age of 89, is still touring and composing.

Despite his busy schedule, Brubeck was gracious enough to make time for an interview regarding his upcoming performance with The Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Palace Theater. He also will be honored with the Stamford Center for the Arts' first-ever Arts Legacy Award for his contributions to music education.

Take 5: Five questions for Dave Brubeck

You have received many awards, but the Stamford Center for the Arts Legacy Award is one of the few given by a local arts institution. What does this award mean to you?

It's important to me to receive this award. I'm always going to Washington, D.C. A lot of times I'll be in Europe. To have it at home is really nice.

Speaking of Europe, what was it like travelling there as part of President Dwight Eisenhower's cultural exchange program during the 1950s? What kind of impact do you think it had?

Eisenhower asked us to go on a program called People to People. We were sent to the periphery of the Soviet Union to counteract what they were doing. The president said a way to fight back was to send our people and see what happens -- and look what happened! The voice of America changed how the world looked at us.

In all your times traveling abroad, what was your favorite experience?

Being asked to go to Russia for the summit meeting of Gorbachev and Reagan. I was raised on a cattle ranch and worked as a cowboy for years. Who would have thought I'd be going to Russia with the president? I've been so fortunate.

From reading the Time cover story about you from 1954, I gathered that some of your audiences were pretty loud and disrespectful. How has the atmosphere of jazz performances changed from the time you first started performing?

I just finished last week playing four days at the Washington Blues Alley in Georgetown. It was two shows a night for four nights and the entire four nights were sold out. We broke all the records for the club for attendance. You don't have to say anything to those night club audiences. They're absolutely silent. It's because they're there to hear the music.

What's in store for the future?

You never know what somebody's going to ask you to do. I just made a new recording. This company in London wanted me to make something that would involve mothers putting babies to sleep. It's lullabies. There are also tunes that grandparents would remember. One is "Sleepy Time Down South," a song Louis (Armstrong) recorded. Oh, and Clint Eastwood is making a documentary about me. That will come out on my 90th birthday.